Stuff Jos van der Woude cares about

Introduction

May 4th, 2015 we visited the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden on a whim, because we read the museum would be closed for renovations, at least for the rest of the year. The Egyptian department is my favorite, so we went there first. But on the upper floor my eye caught something else. I took a photo of this strange piece of jewelry, and once back home, I researched it. Read on to find out what I discovered about this fascinating piece of jewelry...

The Gemma Constantiniana is one of the greatest cameos from classical antiquity. It was made in honour of Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius in AD 312. It is a large agate of two layers of grey and brown (21.1 × 29.7 cm) and shows an Emperor and his family on a chariot drawn by two centaurs trampling on fallen enemies, while a flying Victory holds a wreath. Both the style and the scene depicted point to the fourth century: Constantine the Great is pictured with his spouse Fausta, his son Crispus and his mother Helena. Comparison with Constantinian coins and a close scrutiny of the scene portrayed lead to the conclusion that this work of art was produced in the years 312—315 and served as a present on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Emperor's accession, in 315. Thus it is the aristocratic counterpart of Constantine's popular triumphal arch. The guilded frame with gems was added in the 17th century in Antwerp.

It is possible to trace at least part of the long way the cameo travelled from the Emperor's treasure house in Rome to the Rijksmueum Oudheden in Leiden, The Netherlands, mostly thanks to meticulous recordkeeping of the Dutch East India Company.

Time line of events

Date	Place	Events
315	Rome	Cameo made in honour of Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius in AD 312. It served as a present on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Emperor's accession, in 315
330?	Constantinople	Roman capital transferred from Rome to Constantinople, cameo probably taken there.
1204	Constantinople	4th Crusade, sack of Constantinople. Cameo taken to France?
1204-1622	France?	Unknown, probably in a monastery or church in France
1622	Antwerp	Cameo in possession of Peter-Paul Rubens, great Baroque painter and collector of ancient cameos
1628	Antwerp	Frame with gems added by Theodoor Rogiersz in Antwerp.
1628, Oct	Amsterdam	Taken to Gaspar Boudaen in Amsterdam to be sold to the Great Mogul of India.
1628, Oct 28	Texel	The Batavia under command of Francisco Pelsaert leaves Texel with the Great cameo as its most valuable item.
1629, Jun 4	Abrolhos Islands, off the coast of Western Austalia	At about 5 a.m. on 4 June 1629 the Dutch ship the Batavia, belonging to the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC), on its way to Java with 316 people on board, struck Morning Reef in the Wallabi Group of the Abrolhos Islands, about sixty kilometres off the central west coast of Western Australia.
1629, Jun 4 – Sep 17	Abrolhos Islands, off the coast of Western Austalia	Cameo in possession of the mutineers of the infamous Batavia Mutiny. In the absence of captain Pelsaert the mutineers, led by Jeronimus Cornelisz, callously murdered about 110 men, women and children, in many cases with horrific savagery and cruelty. Cornelisz never committed any of the murders himself, although he tried and failed to poison a baby (who was eventually strangled). Instead, he used his powers of persuasion to coerce others into doing it for him, firstly under the pretense that the victim had committed a crime such as theft. Eventually, the mutineers began to kill for pleasure, or simply because they were bored. He planned to reduce the island's population to around 45 so that their supplies would last as long as possible. Although Cornelisz had left the soldiers, led by Wiebbe Hayes, to die, they had in fact found good sources of water and food on their islands. Initially, they were unaware of the barbarity taking place on the other islands and sent pre-arranged smoke signals announcing their finds. However, they soon learned of the massacres from survivors fleeing Cornelisz' island. In response, the soldiers devised makeshift weapons from materials washed up from the wreck. They also set a watch so that they were ready for the mutineers, and built a small fort out of limestone and coral blocks. Cornelisz seized on the news of water on the other island, as his own supply was dwindling and the continued survival of the soldiers threatened his own success. He went with his men to try to defeat the soldiers marooned on West Wallabi Island. However, the trained soldiers were by now much better fed than the mutineers and easily defeated them in several battles, eventually taking Cornelisz hostage. The mutineers who escaped regrouped under a man named Wouter Loos and tried again, this time employing muskets to besiege Hayes' fort and almost defeated the soldiers. But Wiebbe Hayes' men prevailed again, just as Pelsaert arrived in the rescue ship the Saardam. A race to the rescue ship ensued between Cornelisz's men and the soldiers. Wiebbe Hayes reached the ship first and was able to present his side of the story to Pelsaert. After a short battle, the combined force captured all of the mutineers.
1629, Oct 2	Abrolhos Islands, off the coast of Western Austalia	Cameo retrieved from mutineers. Pelsaert decided to conduct a trial on the islands, because the Saardam on the return voyage to Batavia would have been overcrowded with survivors and prisoners. After a brief trial, the worst offenders were taken to Seal Island and executed. Cornelisz and several of the major mutineers had both hands chopped off before being hanged on October 2. Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de Bye, were considered only minor offenders and were abandoned on the Western Australian coast, probably at the mouth of Hutt River, about 450 kilometres north of where Perth now stands. They were provided with a boat, food, toys and trinkets to trade, and a set of instructions. Thus they became the first Europeans to take up residence in Australia, and their instructions directed them to “make themselves known to the folk of this land.” Reports of unusually light-skinned Aborigines in the area by later British settlers have been suggested as evidence that the two men might have been adopted into a local Aboriginal clan. Some amongst the Amangu people of the mainland have a blood group specific to Leyden, in Holland. However, numerous other European shipwreck survivors, such as those from the wreck of the Zuytdorp in the same region in 1712, may also have had such contact with indigenous inhabitants.
1629, Dec	Batavia (Jakarta)	The remaining mutineers were taken to Batavia for trial. Five were hanged, while several others were flogged. Cornelisz's second in command, Jacop Pietersz, was broken on the wheel, the most severe punishment available at the time. A board of inquiry decided that Pelsaert had exercised a lack of authority and was therefore partly responsible for what had happened. His financial assets were seized, and he died a broken man within a year. On the other hand, the common soldier Wiebbe Hayes was hailed as a hero. The Dutch East India Company promoted him to sergeant, and later to lieutenant, which increased his salary fivefold. Of the original 341 people on board the Batavia, only 68 made it to the port of Batavia.
1632	Suratte, India	Cameo taken aboard the warship Amboina to Suratte, India for sale to governor Mirmousa. No deal.
1633	Batavia	Cameo returns to Batavia onboard the warship ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
1634, Aug	Batavia	Cameo stays in Batavia; drawings are sent to Hindoustan and Persia in order to sell it. No deal.
1636?	Gamron, Persia	Cameo sent to Gamron in Persia. No deal.
1637, Jun	Batavia	Cameo returns to Batavia.
1637, Dec	Achin, Sumatra	Bad weather forces premature return to Batavia.
1638, Feb 24	Achin, Sumatra	King of Atjeh refuses to buy the cameo.
1640	Suratte, India	Cameo taken aboard the warship Nieuw-Zeeland to Suratte, India for sale to governor Mirmousa. No deal.
1641, Apr	Batavia	Cameo returns to Batavia aboard the warship Nieuw-Zeeland.
1641 - 1647	Batavia	Cameo in store
1647	Suratte, India	Gaspar Boudaen's son comes out to the East Indies and takes it to Suratte, but he, too, fails to sell it.
1653-1656	The Netherlands	Cameo returns to the heirs of Gaspar Boudaen in the Netherlands
1656-1756	The Netherlands	Unknown
1756, Sep 11	Amsterdam, de Munt	Cameo is auctioned for fl 5500 at the Munt in Amsterdam, probably to Jacob Hop.
1783, Oct 1	Amsterdam, de Munt	Cameo is up for auction at the Munt in Amsterdam by the heirs of Jacob Hop (Pabst). No deal.
1808	Paris	Cameo is taken to Paris and a detailed drawing is made by Lacour. Cameo is almost sold to Napoleon for ff 110.000. Events in 1813 preclude a deal.
1823	Leiden	King Willem I buys the cameo for fl 50.000 from Jacob Hop’s grandson. Cameo is taken to the Royal Coin Cabinet in Leiden.
2007, May 24	Utrecht	Cameo is transferred to the Money museum in Utrecht
2014, Jan 15	Leiden	Cameo is transferred to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden